


start off the day singing

by leighbot



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - America, Alternate Universe - Teachers, First Dates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-05-19
Packaged: 2018-03-25 18:57:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3821242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leighbot/pseuds/leighbot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Secretly, Niall’s pleased by the extra time spent with Zayn, often baiting the children to help him encourage Mr. Malik to join them for a song or two. At least, Niall hopes it’s secret. Based on the teasing he often suffers when around Louis or Harry, he doesn’t think he’s been as subtle as he’d like.</i>
</p><p><i>Thankfully, Zayn doesn’t seem to have picked up on Niall’s crush.</i><br/> </p><p>Or, the one where Niall is an elementary school music teacher and Zayn's first graders are possibly Niall's favorite class... and not just because Mr. Malik has a pretty smile. Okay, it's a bit because he has a pretty smile.</p>
            </blockquote>





	start off the day singing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Niallaeger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niallaeger/gifts).



> I hope you don't mind, Niallaeger, I took your first prompt and tweaked it a bit. Couldn't help myself, the promise of meddling Louis Tomlinson was too good to pass up.
> 
> This is set in the United States and based on the school system here. For those unfamiliar, preschool, kindergarten and grades first through sixth (age eleven) are 'elementary school' in this fic and the school has a music teacher that sees the students on a rotation twice a week. Enter Niall.
> 
> This fic would not have made it if it weren't for my betas, Sam and Zoe. Thank you for resisting britpicking, I know the Americanisms must have driven you a bit crazy.

The rain is coming down harder than anything Niall’s seen before, the plastic poncho over his clothes hardly enough to keep him dry as he waits on the corner of the street. It’s dark from the cloud coverage and loud all around with the splatter of rain on pavement. He’s thankful he hasn’t seen lightening since he left his house, at least, and looks forlornly at his parked truck, wishing he could be inside. He’s just spent the better part of his Sunday vacuuming it out, though, and he doesn’t want to get it muddy.

Amusing himself with the pout that’s bound to cross the principal’s face when Niall tells Liam he won’t be doing crossing duty next year, Niall shoves his wet hands into the front pocket of his poncho after securing his hood a bit tighter. He’s crossed most of his regular kids so far, but two of his usual groups haven’t yet arrived and he’s still got some time before school begins.

A couple cars pull up near him as he’s thinking, parents giving him pitying looks as their kids hop out the back seats and rush up to him. Niall grins when they reach him, umbrellas and raincoats on each one of them.

“Hi, Mr. Horan!” they yell above the sound of the rain, and he yells back his own hello.

Motioning them to stay put, he turns back to the road and waits for the light to turn red a block ahead. He hoists his stop sign above his head and puts his whistle in his mouth, making his way to the center of the road and double checking both directions have stopped before whistling and motioning for the little ones to cross. He whistles again when they run and they slow down, stomping through the puddles in their rain boots until they make it to the other side.

He jogs back to his corner, turning and keeping an eye on the group until an aide comes out to them and helps them inside. He checks his watch, brushing the face clear of water. Ten more minutes before school begins and twenty more minutes before he’ll let himself leave, liking to stay as late as he possibly can in case of stragglers.

~*~

Dry and safely inside his music room forty-five minutes later, Niall checks the tuning on the piano and his guitar before he sets the chairs out for his classes. He sees the first, third and fifth graders on Mondays and Thursdays and is looking forward to starting the day with the first grade classes.

Telling himself it has everything to do with loving to teach and nothing to do with the insanely gorgeous first grade teacher, Niall sets about grabbing out enough triangles and lap bongo drums so that each child has a choice.

Niall perks up at his desk at the sound of a knock on the music room door in warning before it opens and he finds himself biting down on his bottom lip to quell his smile. Zayn leads his class in while Niall grabs his music sheets for today’s lesson, trying not to blush when Zayn smiles at him as the kids take their seats.

“Mind if I sit in on the lesson, Mr. Horan?” Zayn asks.

“'Course not,” Niall grins, faking bravado.

Taking a spot behind Niall’s desk, Zayn turns his full attention towards the front of the room. Zayn has always been the one of the rare teachers that stays behind; most of the other staff tend to use the hour Niall has the students as a bit of a break.

Secretly, Niall’s pleased by the extra time spent with Zayn, often baiting the children to help him encourage Mr. Malik to join them for a song or two. At least, Niall hopes it’s secret. Based on the teasing he often suffers when around Louis or Harry, he doesn’t think he’s been as subtle as he’d like.

Thankfully, Zayn doesn’t seem to have picked up on Niall’s crush.

He leads the class in their vocal warmups, smiling until his cheeks hurt as the little ones hit the drums and triangles off-time. He tries to slow them down and get them to focus on the metronome, but they’re pretty hopeless.

Cute, but terribly inept.

A couple of the students seem annoyed. Niall makes a mental note to pull them aside after class, offer to help them if they’re as serious about music as they seem.

He gets control of the chaos quickly, thankful- not for the first time- that the music room is wedged between the gymnasium and the exterior wall, allowing him to let the kids get a little louder than he probably should. He calms them down by settling in at the piano.

Picking out the familiar tune of Für Elise, Niall grins when the students quiet almost instantly and turn to watch him, a look of awe on their faces as their eyes follow his fingers on the keys.

Confident he has the children’s support, he shifts and faces Zayn, letting his hands fall to his lap.

“Why don’t we see if we can get Mr. Malik to sing a bit with us, wouldn’t that be a nice way to end the lesson?”

He can feel the smirk on his lips when he looks at Zayn, the other teacher wearing a similar expression.

“I’m sure we don’t need to hear that,” Zayn protests, though several of the students crowd around him at Niall’s desk and tug him to his feet.

“ _Please_ ,” they chorus, faces bright and eager.

Helpless the same way Niall always is when faced with that kind of cajoling, Zayn laughs and finally agrees.

“Okay, okay!” he says, stepping over to the piano.

Niall feels his blush come back when Zayn’s close enough for him to catch a scent of his aftershave. It’s subtle and intoxicating. It makes Niall want to smell more of it, to brush his nose just under Zayn’s jaw to root out the scent further.

Shaking his head a bit and resigning himself to the flush he can feel heating his neck, Niall shifts back to face the piano.

“Any requests?” he whispers just loud enough for Zayn to hear.

“Something easy,” Zayn whispers back.

Laughing, Niall starts playing “The Wheels on the Bus” and he smiles when Zayn laughs as well.

The class launches into the song, Zayn leading them and prompting them at each new chorus.

Singing until the timer goes, signifying two minutes until the end of the lesson, Niall leads the students through the end of the chorus before ending the song. The littlest students always need a moment to settle back down before heading back to their classrooms.

Zayn stays near the piano as Niall heads to the front of the room. He finishes each lesson the same- no matter the age- with a final run through of the seven solfège syllables. They go through them until the class is almost decently on pitch.

“ _Do re mi fa so la ti_ ,” they sing one final time before Niall waves his hands exaggeratedly, his fingers coming together to indicate silence.

“Thank you, Mr. Horan,” Zayn prompts, a small smile on his face as the students repeat him.

“Thank _you_ , and thanks to Mr. Malik for helping us out with our song today.”

Turning and thanking Zayn in unison, the students calmly get to their feet and form a line.

Niall’s sure he imagines the way Zayn pauses and glances at him, because- the next second- Zayn’s heading to the front of the line and leading the class out the door.

Distracting himself from his hopeless, teenage-esque crush, Niall sets about straightening the room for the next class.

Mr. Devine leads his third graders in at promptly half-past, staying just long enough to fist bump Niall and leave. Josh is a great guy: cute, smart and really funny- based on the times the teachers have gone out together for drinks after conferences- and he and Niall have giggled over whiskeys about terribly pompous parents- but he doesn’t make Niall feel the same way Zayn does.

Nobody has really ever affected Niall the way Zayn does, though. He’s normally always cheerful and boisterous, shameless and confident. Zayn makes him feel silly and a bit out of control, makes him flush and breathe a little faster.

He gets through the rest of the day on autopilot, waving his hellos and goodbyes to the teachers that drop their students off and return to their classrooms to prepare for the next lesson or- more likely, in Niall’s opinion- kick back and have a bit of a nap.

A quick glance of Zayn getting into his car as Niall starts his truck is the only other time Niall sees him that day. He pulls out of the lot, glaring jealously at Louis- who is perfectly dry as he helps the students cross the street away from the school. Louis just laughs, having heard Niall’s story about the horrible storm that morning.

Niall drives home, singing under the blue sky with his windows down, planning his next lessons in his head as he flips through radio stations until he finds an old blues song and he settles into it.

~*~

On Tuesdays and Fridays, Niall sees Louis’ classes. He loves those days best, because he gets twice as many little ones to see- the AM kindergarten class in the morning and the PM class right before he leaves for the day.

He has tiny keyboards they can share in pairs, drawing out a near replica on the whiteboard at the front of the classroom and demonstrating with a pointer stick which keys to press. They’ve been working on _Frère Jacques_ here and there since the beginning of the semester, and Niall’s pretty confident they’ll have it memorized fully by the time they break for summer.

Louis messes around in the music room sometimes but today he doesn’t stay long with either session, jogging quickly back into the room with seconds to spare for both of his classes. Niall can tell he’s up to something but he’s no idea what it could be, so he shrugs it off and cleans his room as he prepares to leave for the day.

The sound of someone clearing their throat startles him as he’s flipping the last chair on top of its desk. He spins around and sees Zayn in the doorway, soft smile on his face.

“Hey,” Zayn says.

“Hiya,” Niall responds, head tilted curiously. “What’s going on?”

Zayn shrugs but steps inside. “Had a couple interesting conversations with Louis today.”

Forcing out a giggle and grimacing slightly when it comes out nervous and high-pitched, Niall turns away to get control of himself. “What about?” he asks, proud of the way his voice seems steady.

He tries not to read too far into Zayn’s pause, but he can’t help the jolt of disappointment when Zayn doesn’t come closer. His voice sounds a bit different when he speaks next, too.

“Erm, he offered your services to help me teach the students a bit. You know, like, _Schoolhouse Rock_ style.”

Turning around as Zayn’s speaking, Niall nods. “That sounds easy enough. What are you looking for? _Lolly, Lolly, Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here_ and counting by fives?”

Showing his agreement by nodding and smiling, Zayn continues. “They’ve been taught the basics about things, but Louis thought it’d be a good idea to teach them some songs that might stick with them a bit. You know, like, make it easier for them when they encounter these things in future grades?”

“Sounds sick, mate. I’ve got no classes tomorrow, so I should be able to come up with something by Thursday’s lesson. Does that work for you?”

“Sounds great,” Zayn says with a smile. “Have a good day off, then. See you Thursday?”

Niall forces a smile. “It’s a date.”

Kicking himself for being a fool, Niall watches as Zayn grins and laughs a bit, turning away and heading back to the door. “Good night, Horan,” Zayn calls over his shoulder.

“Buenas noches!” he calls off, smacking his palm to his forehead afterward.

Niall is _such_ a silly little child with a crush. He’d be almost ashamed of how little chill he actually has, but he honestly doesn’t think he should be blamed for that. Zayn’s honey eyes and black, thick eyelashes have surely captured more than just Niall’s obsessive fancy. He’ll just deal with his crush for a bit and then move on.

Shouldn’t be too hard.

~*~

True to his word, Niall has his guitar tuned and a few different songs ready by the time Thursday’s morning class begins. Zayn leads his students in, a constant chatter descending upon the room as Niall slides the strap of his acoustic guitar over his shoulder.

Standing at the front of the room next to Zayn has Niall physically forcing himself to not do anything silly- like _sniff_ him or something equally embarrassing. Instead, he waits while Zayn calls the class to attention.

“We’ve got a special treat today, everyone. Mr. Horan wrote us some special songs to teach us things like math and English, isn’t that exciting?” Zayn asks them, clasping his hands together behind his back.

The reason Niall loves his classes with the littler students so much is evidenced right then: they clap and nod excitedly, still in that beautiful phase of life where they’re almost all eager to learn. Even the students who might not like math can get excited about learning new songs.

Giving the students his signature mock-glare, Zayn looks over them all. “I trust we are all going to behave like ladies and gentleman and learn these songs as well as we can, right?”

The class giggles in unison, clearly unconcerned with Zayn’s disciplinary stance. Niall laughs as well, eyes bright when Zayn turns to look at him.

“You don’t respect me either, then?” he asks in an undertone, causing Niall to laugh harder. “Get on with you,” Zayn says with a smile, making his way to Niall’s desk as usual.

Hesitating for only a moment while the giggles around the room quiet, Niall takes a chance. “Maybe Mr. Malik would like to play some piano for us while we learn our songs? I bet if we ask really, _really_ nicely, he might just do.”

As one, the class turns to Zayn with their best beseeching faces. Niall has always loved how children tend to act like little armies- moving in one unit through their instructions. That’s why he loves the chaos of play time- they get to do whatever they’d like in a controlled area and get to learn how to better express themselves.

Always a sucker for their pleading faces, Zayn acquiesces and settles on the bench in front of the piano. Niall assures him the melodies are easy to pick up, and he strums his guitar as he runs the students through their vocal warmups.

The first song he teaches them is an easy one for them: counting by twos. They’ve already learned the concept at the beginning of the year, but Niall wanted something simple that would allow them to gain a bit of confidence before he moved on to anything more challenging.

The class clearly knows the right answers, though Niall notices the most hesitation with any number ending in six. He cannot fathom why, as it is the age of the majority of them, but he can see Zayn smirking a bit and it makes Niall want to giggle about the joke with him.

He doesn’t let himself get distracted by the way Zayn’s fingers pick at the piano keys easily, eyes closing for a bit and playing with the melody between choruses.

Eventually, however, Niall finishes the song. He and Zayn begin clapping and the class follows suit.

“That was an _easy_ one, don’t you think?” Niall asks. When the students nod, he fakes a thoughtful face. “Okay, well, I don’t know if you guys are ready for this next one though. Can anyone name all the planets yet?”

A majority of the hands shoot into the air, kids leaning off their chairs in an effort to be called on.

“Okay, it looks like a lot of you know them. Well, have any of you ever heard of my friend Interplanet Janet?”

The students look at each other confused before turning back to Niall and shaking their heads.

“Well, she’s been to all the planets. She taught me a little song one day to keep them in order, shall I play it for you?”

When the entire class is nodding and smiling, Niall strums once to get them to quieten down a bit.

“If we’re really, extra special nice when we ask, maybe Mr. Malik will help us sing this one, too?”

Zayn laughs from where he’s sat on the bench, turned at his waist to look at Niall.

“‘M afraid I don’t know this one,” he shrugs.

“Something tells me you’ll pick it up quickly enough,” Niall teases, not letting Zayn off the hook.

“I might ruin it though, and then what will we do?”

“Eh, you can’t be that bad.”

The brief moment of banter between them is all it takes for the students to lose interest, wiggling impatiently in their seats as they wait for the next song. Niall strums again quickly, recapturing their attention.

“Okay, okay. We’re all of us gonna learn this next song and then I’ll have another one ready for you lot next week, how’s that sound?”

Excitement seems to run through the students like electricity through a wire, the class quickly quieting and focusing on the front of the room.

Niall finds the right chord and begins the quick tune, condensed from _Schoolhouse Rock_ to fit their needs. Zayn picks out the new tune, fingers quick on the keys when Niall repeats the song.

Before he sings it for the third time, he stops. “Do we think we can sing-along with this one?” He smiles when they shout out a resounding _yes_ . “Do we need to slow it down?” Another smile when they’re quick to yell out _no_!

“Alright, mongrels, settle down,” he teases.

He does slow the tune just a bit, over-emphasizing the words as the class- and Zayn- sing along with him. He leads them through the song twice before the timer goes off and class is just about over. Niall slips his guitar off and sets it on its stand carefully.

“You lot did so well today,” he says, completely serious. “I’m so proud of you all. Next week, we’ll see how much you remember of the songs. Have a good rest of the day and be extra nice to Mr. Malik because he sang with us and played the piano so well.”

They all nod in agreement, standing up when instructed and forming a line. Zayn hangs back for just a moment.

“Thanks again,” he says with a smile.

Trying to forestall his certain impending flush, Niall forces himself to imagine he’s trapped in a cold, close-quartered well freezer.

Even the threat of claustrophobia doesn’t keep the heat off his cheeks though when he sees the way Zayn’s tongue is pressed against the back of his top teeth.

“Anytime,” Niall says, belatedly.

Zayn leaves, still smiling, and Niall watches him go to the front of the queue, leading the kids away after he has them turn around one more time to say _thank you_ again.

~*~

Niall’s cleaning up the room at the end of the school day, as usual, when the sound of a throat clearing catches his attention.

“We should stop meeting like this,” Niall quips when he turns around and sees Zayn leaning against the doorframe.

Zayn just grins at him, pushing off from the doorframe and coming inside, helping Niall flip up the last few chairs.

“Thanks again for today,” Zayn says once they’re finished.

“No problem. I think that’s actually a good idea, can’t believe I never thought about it before. I’ve already got a couple ideas about a water cycle song for Harry’s third graders.”

“Sounds sick.”

“Don’t worry,” Niall hastens to assure him, “I’ve got a couple new ones for your class, too. Think we’re going to do some basic Spanish if that’s alright?”

“Course it is. You speak Spanish?”

Shrugging, Niall nods. With the room done, he stands awkwardly near his desk with his hands in his pockets. Zayn looks just as uncomfortable where he’s still hovering in the middle of the room.

“Erm, well. I guess I should go,” Zayn says after a beat.

Confused, Niall watches him turn away and walk out the door. He grabs his bag with a sigh and slips inside his lesson plans, hooking the flap and slipping the strap across his shoulders. He fishes his keys out of the side pocket and locks up the room behind him before heading out to the carpark.

A shout of his name stops him before he gets to his truck.

Turning around, his eyes widen when he sees Zayn rushing up to him, his own bag strapped over his shoulder.

“I need to do this now or I probably never will,” Zayn pants when he gets within a foot of him.

“Do what?” Niall asks, concerned. Zayn’s normally so quiet and calm, this is strange behavior for him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Zayn answers, squaring his shoulders and sliding just a fraction of a step closer. “Just, um. Will you… that is to say, _wouldyouliketogooutwithme_?”

All of a sudden, it’s like Niall can’t hear anything over the sound of his blood rushing in his ears. “What?” he asks, intelligently.

“Louis said… well, never mind what Louis said,” Zayn starts.

“Louis talks a lot of shit.”

Nodding and laughing, Zayn takes a breath before continuing. “Would you, though? Sometime?” After a pause, he tacks on, “like to go out. With me.”

Niall’s sure his cheeks are red, can tell by the sweep of Zayn’s eyelashes across his cheek that he’s flustered as well.

“I would, um, I’d really like that,” Niall answers.

The amber color of Zayn’s eyes when he looks back up makes Niall’s breath catch. Zayn is just so _pretty_ and Niall’s been crushing on him for so long he’s half-convinced this is just some terribly mean prank Louis and Harry are pulling over on him.

It doesn’t seem like something Zayn would go along with, though, and Niall shifts back onto his heels.

“What are you doing tomorrow night?” he asks with a cheeky grin.

Zayn’s answering smile is beautiful, tongue against the back of his teeth- a signature look that Niall plans on bringing out more often.

“I’m free tomorrow. Let me give you my number and we can work something out.”

Fumbling his phone out of his pocket quickly, he watches as Zayn punches his number in and presses ‘send’.

“There,” he says, “now I’ve got yours, too.”

“Awesome. See you tomorrow, Zayn.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Niall walks backwards a couple steps before turning and heading to his truck. He hops up into the cab and cranks down the window, watching as Zayn crosses the parking lot to his own car. He forces himself not to turn away when Zayn catches him staring. He waves instead, smiling brightly when Zayn waves back before Niall drives away.

He ignores Louis, who’s clearly neglecting his crossing duties as he watches their interaction, a group of kids stood behind him waiting impatiently for Louis to pay attention again. He hears him try to start a slow clap, rolling his eyes and smiling as he pulls out of the lot and drives away.

~*~

On Friday mornings, Louis’ AM kindergarteners are his first class of the day. He gets them grouped up to help each other with their vocal warmups as Louis settles in at Niall’s desk.

Angling his body so he can keep an eye on the children and Louis at the same time, Niall whispers, “I don’t know whether to kiss you or hit you.”

Louis laughs, rearranging the papers in Niall’s ‘in’ box and just generally causing his usual brand of chaos. Niall sighs, knowing he’ll have to go back through and straighten everything out after Louis’ class leaves, though it’s not as if he isn’t used to it by now.

“Seriously, mate. I don’t know what the problem is. You like Zayn, Zayn likes you. I just gave him a gentle push to finally do something about it.”

“I’m going to tell Liam about your meddling.”

“Do that when you tell him about your new _relationship_ , two birds with one stone and all that.”

Niall glares and leaves him be, heading to the front of the room and leading the little ones in the alphabet song to finish warming them up.

He keeps an eye on Louis throughout the lesson, barely biting back sighs as he watches him continue to shuffle things around. When they finally leave, Niall leaves the desk alone.

Maybe in his PM class session, Louis will rearrange Niall’s desk again and magically put everything back where it goes. It’s worth a shot.

~*~

Most of the time, Niall absolutely loves his job. He gets to introduce music to children and help them learn to express themselves in ways they didn’t know existed. He’s met some of his best friends at the school and Liam’s an absolutely amazing boss- always lenient and understanding.

There are very few negatives to being a teacher, in Niall’s opinion. The negatives _are_ these, however, few though they may be.

The first, of course, is the constant exposure to germs and sickly children.

The second is the relatively low income, which is causing his main problem right now: he has nothing to wear on his date with Zayn.

Staring at all of the clothing he owns- most of it strewn across his bed- he contemplates his current predicament. He has ruled out all of his work clothes- khakis and button-downs, mostly. He doesn’t want to wear his normal going out pieces, thinks Zayn merits more than black tattered skinnies and band tees.

The reservations are in thirty minutes and it’s going to take Niall at least twenty to get across town to the Spanish restaurant Zayn had let him pick. He had been planning on impressing Zayn with his language skills but it doesn’t matter now, since he can’t go starkers and he certainly doesn’t have anything else to wear.

Without thinking too much about it, doesn’t have time to debate any further, Niall grabs his nicest pair of light denim skinnies, pulling them on and finding his cleanest white tee. He grabs a maroon varsity-style jacket he’s pretty sure was Louis’ at one point, before he heads out to his truck.

Pulling in to the lot with only a moment to spare, Niall’s relieved when he sees Zayn relaxing against his car door, dressed in loose jeans and a leather jacket. Zayn smiles when he sees him, kicking off from his car door and coming over to where Niall’s just parked.

An almost unreadable expression crosses Zayn’s face as he opens Niall’s door, a pretty mix between embarrassment and determination with just an edge of something Niall can’t place. He steps out easily, touching his hand to Zayn’s elbow as he slips past him and lets Zayn shut the door.

“Let’s go in, yeah?” he asks, somehow feeling calmer. He needs to get Zayn to relax, can almost laugh at the thought of someone like _Zayn_ being nervous about _Niall_. “Have you ever had paella?”

“I made one from a recipe book once,” Zayn offers.

Niall snorts. “Then ‘no’ is clearly the answer. Let’s get you some real cuisine.”

Zayn laughs as well, relaxing a bit as they walk inside the restaurant. They’re seated promptly, the restaurant full of the sounds of a band playing in the corner and the dull hum of conversation all around them.

Zayn orders a water to start and Niall follows suit. They’re quiet as they look over the menus, Niall already settled on the san jacobos and just using the menu as a distraction while Zayn decides.

“What do you think?” Zayn asks after a moment. “Should I take the plunge and try this paella? It seems to come with high praise from you.”

“This place makes the best Valencian paella. It’s rabbit and chicken and a bit spicy.”

“I’m up to the challenge,” Zayn says, smiling and setting down his menu.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The way Zayn’s smile turns just a little dirty holds Niall’s attention. He almost can’t believe that now they’re flirting, actually flirting, and he really would like to know when he turned into a teenager again. He sets his own menu on the table, folding his hands on top and leaning forward, trying to be suave and unsure if he pulls it off.

“So, when you’re not being an incredibly fit first grade teacher, what do you do with your free time?”

Laughing, Zayn shakes his head. “You’re direct.”

The waiter coming up to their table interrupts the way Niall’s trying to raise his eyebrow and wink at the same time, which is probably a fortunate occurrence as he’s pretty positive he’s managing neither and just looks like he has a nervous tick.

Ordering with just a tad bit of exaggeration on his pronunciation, Niall beams at the waitress as she responds in Spanish, rapidly asking him how he learned to speak so well. He laughs and tells her he’s always had a knack for languages, and she takes their menus with another smile before walking away.

“Should I be jealous?” Zayn asks with a laugh, clearly unconcerned.

“Not even a bit,” Niall replies. He leans forward again as he had been before the interruption, bum lifting off his chair just a bit. “Tell me something about yourself, Zayn Malik. What’s your secret?”

Zayn rolls his eyes. “I don’t have any secrets. ‘M simple- got a great bunch of sisters, amazing parents and a truly wonderful career. I’m living the dream, ‘pparently.”

Eyes following the way Zayn’s throat moves when he takes a sip of water, Niall’s distracted from responding.

“What about you? Got any secrets I should know before the second date?”

Latching on to his words, Niall’s quick to repeat. “Second date? I’ve wowed you that much already?”

He’s honestly quite curious about that; he’s sure he’s coming off like a lunatic.

Zayn looks down at his hands, fingers scratching along the tablecloth. “Keep speaking Spanish,” he suggests.

Niall laughs again, feeling himself relax fully as he leans back in his seat with his arm outstretched in front of him, hand still on the table. He looks over at Zayn as he lifts his head, noting the way his shoulders seem looser and his smile easier.

“I could do that, but I’d really like to keep talking to you instead.”

Grinning across the table at him, Zayn looks more relaxed than Niall thinks he’s ever seen him before. His normal confidence returns to him fully and he starts talking, slipping Spanish phrases in the middle of his sentences and falling deeper in like with Zayn every time he comes up with a witty retort to Niall’s obvious attempts at impressing Zayn further.

~*~

The conversation flows while they eat, their food growing cold long before they run out of topics to discuss. The waitress tells Niall how cute he and his _novio_ look and Niall flushes but doesn’t correct her, thinking it harmless.

When Zayn’s still hounding him about the exchange after they settle the bill and slip out the door, Niall finally relents.

“She called you my boyfriend,” he says, trying to laugh it off.

Stopping when they’ve reached Niall’s truck, Zayn looks at him. “It’s a little soon for that,” he says, voice low, “but I _would_ like to kiss you. Is that okay?”

Niall feels like the wind’s been knocked out of his body. “Is that _okay_ ? What kind of question is that? I let you eat off my plate, do you know how _few_ people get to do that?” he rambles after he’s regained his senses. “Not only are you fit and nice, you’re funny and a good listener and your laugh is fucking _music_ , mate. I could listen to you forever and write, I don’t know, _operas_ about your eyelashes. Can you kiss me, _shit_. What a silly question.”

Zayn’s openly laughing at him, hand on his own stomach as he giggles. When Niall starts getting louder at the end of his rant, Zayn puts a gentle finger over his mouth to quiet him.

“I get it,” he teases, eyes bright in the light from the streetlamps. “I’m going to kiss you now, then.”

“Right now?” Niall asks, unable to contain his babbling.

“Right now,” Zayn confirms, placing both of his hands on Niall’s shoulders and leaning forward.

The kiss is brief, just the barest brush of their lips together, but Niall’s still drowning in the scent of Zayn’s cologne under the lingering spicy scent of the restaurant. He can taste just the barest hint of the chocolate sauce when he leans back in for another kiss, lips parted just enough so he can mouth at the slight swell of Zayn’s bottom lip.

Pulling back with a smile, he opens his eyes to see Zayn already watching him.

“That was a good kiss,” Niall says, trying for a bit of cheek but mostly sounding awed.

The end result must be charming because Zayn smiles back and lifts his arm behind his own head, rubbing the back of his neck with his palm as he steps backwards.

“Tonight was lovely,” he says, voice soft. “Think we can do it again some time?”

“If I say _s_ _í_ is that too cheesy?”

“Absolutely.”

“ _Sí,_ then. A hundred percent.”

Zayn smirks at him, eyes narrowed as he finally turns around and heads to his car. Niall leans back against the truck bed as he watches Zayn unlock his car. Before he gets in, he turns back to face Niall.

“Thank you, again, for tonight,” he calls out across the short distance. “We might have to do something nice for Louis after this.”

Niall laughs. “Aye, we’ll see.”

“Good night.”

“Good night, Zayn. I’ll see you soon.”

Waiting until Zayn slips into his car and starts it before turning to his truck and climbing in, Niall thinks about how he’s already probably in too deep. He knows most people say to wait three days to call someone, but Niall’s fingers are already itching for his phone, wanting some kind of contact with Zayn.

He’s waited long enough, spent almost the whole year crushing on the new teacher. He’s not going to wait any longer and he’s already composing a text in his head that he can send Zayn in the morning. He’s going to use the tea emoji, that’s for sure, and he’s trying to think of something witty he can say about the rush Zayn gives him being similar to a strong shot of caffeine when his mobile vibrates in his pocket.

Confused, no one typically bothers him on Friday nights, he fishes his phone out of his pocket. His heart leaps when he sees a text from Zayn on his lock screen.

_Stop thinking about how great I am and start your damn truck_

He laughs and looks out the window, smiling when he sees Zayn turned to him with an expectant expression on his face. Dutifully, Niall slips the key into the ignition and turns it, his truck coming to life loudly. He unlocks his phone with his thumb and starts a reply.

_better?_

It only takes a moment of him watching Zayn, face focused on his mobile in his laugh and cheekbones sharply lit by the backlight.

_Much. Movie at my place this weekend? Your choice of film, my choice of takeaway._

Giggling a bit nervously, feeling somewhat like a schoolgirl with a crush again, Niall nods even as he types.

_sounds brilliant mate! tomorrow night too eager?_

Zayn’s response is quick.

_Tomorrow night is perfect. Seven okay? I’ll send you my address._

Niall waves at Zayn as he watches him pocket his phone and pull out from his parking spot, waving back at Niall with a grin.

With the awkward first text out of the way, Niall starts his truck moving. He drives home with the radio down low, for once not wanting to lose himself in any music. Instead he plays back Zayn’s laugh in his mind and resolutely does _not_ count down the time until tomorrow’s date.

Twenty-one hours and eighteen minutes. Seventeen minutes.

By the time he’s pulling into his drive, there’s twenty hours and forty-nine minutes. He rolls his eyes at himself, shakes his head a bit as he kills the engine. He makes his way into his house, tossing his keys in the bowl by the door and kicking off his shoes on the mat. He stumbles to bed, suddenly exhausted.

When he gets in his room, he stops in his tracks, leaning against the doorframe. He had forgotten his nervous excitement before the date, eyeing the pile of clothes on his bed with a pout. He sets about rehanging everything, cursing his past self for giving his present self work to do before bed.

He hangs the last of his clothes eventually, kicking off his outfit and finally crawling into bed in just his pants. He sets his mobile on its charging stand, pulling the duvet over his shoulders and settling in.

He glares at his alarm clock, trying to stop his thoughts but he just can’t manage.

Twenty hours and twenty-four minutes.

Tugging the covers over his head and half-laughing, half-groaning into his pillow, Niall feels a bit better. He drifts to sleep soon after that, vowing to work on lesson plans in the morning before his date.

If he plans on spending just a little extra time on the songs for Zayn’s class, well, no one needs to know.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! My tumblr is [here](http://sa-voix.tumblr.com) and my ask is always open for comments, prompts, suggestions and general discussion.


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